Over the past 24 hours, the Libyan opposition has made major gains against Gaddafi‘s forces – under the cover of the no-fly zone. The cities of Ajdabiya and Brega, crucial outposts on the main highway along the coast, have been retaken. This makes a full attack on Benghazi difficult. There are also reports emerging that the rebels have retaken the city of Ras Lanuf, a crucial oil-supplying town. Hurting Gaddafi’s economy can only help in his (hopeful) eventual overthrow.

What has changed? We changed. Thanks to the Western (and now Qatari) imposed no-fly zone over Libya, the rebels are benefitting from a huge boost in morale, knowing that the international community supports them, and from the no-fly zone grounding Gaddafi’s deadly air force.

Apparently, Ajdabiya was taken mostly because of the RAF. A devastating bombardment of the city by RAF Tornadoes led to Gaddafi’s forces melting away.

The French air force has also been suppressing Gaddafi’s air force around Misurata, a city besieged. It took down, reportedly, three planes and two helicopters last night.

Liam Fox has claimed that we will not be directly suppling the rebels with arms, citing the presence of a UN weapons embargo. Mind you, Resolution 1973, only cites arms delivered to the “Libyan Arab Jamahiriya“, the name of Libya under Gaddafi. The Transitional Council calls the country the Libyan Republic. As France recognises the rebels as the legitimate government, are they bound by this embargo? I’m no lawyer, but it’s a point to explore…

So, that’s the latest updates on Libya. A clear change of fortunes for the rebel forces, that we can only hope will continue.

In case you’re relying on me as a source of news, it is confirmed – Britain has just entered a new conflict, the intervention in Libya. We will deploy planes in support of an international no-fly zone over the country

Libyan rebels are retreating from the strategic town of Ajdabiya under heavy bombardment by Muammar Gaddafi’s forces, according to reports, as the international community continues to debate a possible no-fly zone to protect an anti-government uprising.

The town on Libya’s east coast is all that stands between the advance of Libyan government troops and the rebel stronghold of Benghazi and lies on a road junction from where Gaddafi’s forces could attempt to encircle the city.

The fighting in Libya is going incredibly poorly for the Opposition if this is true.

Ajdabiya is, as it says, the last town before Benghazi, effective centre of the opposition forces. With Ajdabiya and Brega, cities with no more than 100,000 inhabitants, falling to Gaddafi’s forces, the way is open for him to take the coast road directly into the rebellion’s heart.

It’s also where the rebels are strongest – Benghazi is a city of around one million inhabitants, most virulently anti-Gaddafi, and many armed. Gaddafi’s forces probably number no more than 100,000, and a frontal assault on the city would be a disaster, for both sides. Far more likely will be a drastic escalation in the conflict, involving bombing Benghazi into submission.

Unless a no-fly zone is implemented within the next few days, probably by the end of the week, we could see the rebellion’s best hope of toppling Gaddafi end before it even had a chance.

Steve Clemons, in this article for the BBC, argues well against the institution of a no-fly zone over Libya, claiming that we should not distract from the rebels themselves, and impose a “Western” no-fly zone that would only serve to bolster Gaddafi’s rhetoric against the West’s neocolonialism.

This is entirely true. However, I don’t agree that we can’t have a no-fly zone.

I think that this article unfortunately suffers from the problem of blogging and journalism. With major events, such as the rebellion in Libya, events move so quickly, that articles and posts may be out of date and redundant within hours of publishing. In this case, it was out of date even when it was published.

The Gulf Cooperation Council, with Saudi Arabia a key member, has already agreed that Gaddafi’s government is illegitimate and support’s a no-fly zone. If Saudi Arabia can convince Egypt to join in, then two of the best equipped air forces in the Arab/North African world could ground Gaddafi’s fearsome air-force.

The Arab community must be the one to front and support any foreign intervention in Libya, or else the neocolonial arguments will just fracture the country more and send waving nationalists over to Gaddafi’s side.